ExxonMobil and Rosneft signed a new pact last month, enabling ExxonMobil to gain seven new exploration blocks in the Chukchi, Laptev and Kara Seas, an area totaling 600,000 sq km. In turn, Rosneft will have the option to take 25% of ExxonMobil’s Point Thomson Unit servicing the natural gas and condensate field on Alaska’s North Slope.